OPW: Office of Public Works
Oifig na nOibreacha Poiblí
FOI Unit
The FOI Unit provides support to the OPW, and has a co-ordinating role with regard to Freedom of Information both within the OPW and with the Department of Finance's Freedom Of Information Central Policy Unit.
Click on the link below to view section 15 & 16 Manual according to the Freedom of Information Act, 1997.
The following charges apply in relation to requests for records made under the FOI Act:
Application Fees
There is no application fee if your request is for personal information
only. If your request is for a record containing non-personal
information, an application fee of €15 (€10 if you are a medical card
holder) must accompany your request. The cheque must be made
out in favour of the "Office of Public Works".
Search and Retrieval and Copying Fees
· Fees also apply in respect of the time spent searching and
retrieving records that are released to you on foot of you request and
in respect of the copying of any records released. Such fees are
unlikely to arise if your request is for personal information. The rates
of these fees are as follows:
· €20.95 per hour of search and retrieval
· €0.04 per sheet for a photocopy
· €0.51 for a three and a half inch computer diskette containing copy documents
· €10.16 for a CD-ROM containing copy documents
· €6.35 for a radiograph (X-ray) containing copy documents
Deposits
· A deposit is payable where the estimated cost of search and retrieval of records sought is estimated to exceed €50.79. In such a case, every effort must be made to assist the requester to amend the request so as to reduce or eliminate the amount of the deposit.
Reductions and Waivers
· A fee in respect of search and retrieval and copying of records will be waived where the cost of collecting and accounting for the fee would exceed the amount of the fee itself (a guideline of less than €10 is used in this respect);
· A fee in respect of search and retrieval and copying of records or a deposit may be reduced or waived where the information in the record would be of particular assistance to the understanding of an issue of national importance.
A charge applies to most internal and independent reviews (Information Commissioner) concerning access to non-personal records. There is a reduction for medical card holders. These will be notified to you at the appropriate time by the relevant public body.